Yes, one center I work for has never done fire drills in 19 years although required by the state. They just forge the forms

12-27-2017 07:47 PM

missbecky

My director lies about doing the monthly drills. We didn't have a single tornado drill this year. Our last fire drill apparently happened last Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. when what really happened was the sprinkler company came for their quarterly check. There were 3 children and 2 teachers, myself and another, in the building. Absolutely not a fire drill.

12-26-2017 05:34 PM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycarediva

SAME!

My goal is under 10 seconds. 2 minutes? You're all dead. Fire is MUCH faster than you can possibly imagine.

We have a stocked emergency bag by the front door. It contains parent contact info (doubt I will rush to get my cell from it's designated location in a true emergency). Snacks, diapers, wipes, blankets.

Shelter in place is a closet and contains special treats, quiet games, bubbles, etc.

We are required to do monthly fire drills. Even in winter I pull the alarm randomly and they all RUN to the entry carpet. The door helper throws the shoe cubby outside as everyone else grabs their own coat. Under 10 seconds. We get dressed outside in a true emergency.

Shelter in place drills are every 6 months. I HIGHLY doubt we would ever need to actually shelter in place (rural area, not too exciting here) BUT we practice anyway. To the kids, it's just fun and they get a sucker.

I have an emergency cell in my go bag... I have limited minutes (Track phone); it's there if I don't have time to grab my regular cell; It's also why you keep a copy of the emergency cards in the bag.
See I do infants... no chance they or I could grab coats in winter - the reason for silver emergency blankets in the bag

12-26-2017 03:44 PM

hwichlaz

Quote:

Originally Posted by LysesKids

In some areas I have lived in the past 10 years, yes Flash floods did happen & Where they happened in Fayetteville AR, it had never happened before (2011), however, just last year it happened again in the exact same area because of excessive rain in a short time ( like 30 minutes). Here my street turns into a river every time it's heavy rains & we get warnings for flash floods & major ponding on roads. I know in FL (2002-04) we had excessive water during some rains and you couldn't drive down any street without risking stalling & drowning & sometimes it happened quickly because of a foot or more of water in intersections. The question is, if you found out you couldn't get out, what would you do?

We’re on high enough ground that we’d just shelter in place and call for rescue. My son is in search and rescue, and that’s the recommmendation for our neighborhood.

12-26-2017 12:49 PM

CityGarden

I spend a week in September, January and the start of summer going over routines including emergency drills (fire, earthquake, active shooter). I have two grab and go bags one on-site and one at one of our emergency back up locations.

I am licensed for 8 but keep a 1:4 ratio at present which makes it a bit easier. We go to the park daily so the children have daily practice getting in line, holding the rope and getting out. My goal is to get out as quickly as possible, we do not add sweaters, etc. as we would not do that in a real emergency and the weather here does not justify it. I do have light sweaters in the grab and go back that is at the off-site location if needed.

12-26-2017 05:56 AM

daycarediva

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat Herder

Emergency shelter in place grab bag. Safety suckers for the littles, starburst, blow pops and laffy taffy for the olders. Don't forget water bottles, sippy cups.

I do my fire drills at different times of day once a month. Fridays was 12 seconds. Typical time is 20 seconds. 6/1 ratio. Blankets, snacks and toys are waiting for us in our go to place.

Preparation is key.

SAME!

My goal is under 10 seconds. 2 minutes? You're all dead. Fire is MUCH faster than you can possibly imagine.

We have a stocked emergency bag by the front door. It contains parent contact info (doubt I will rush to get my cell from it's designated location in a true emergency). Snacks, diapers, wipes, blankets.

Shelter in place is a closet and contains special treats, quiet games, bubbles, etc.

We are required to do monthly fire drills. Even in winter I pull the alarm randomly and they all RUN to the entry carpet. The door helper throws the shoe cubby outside as everyone else grabs their own coat. Under 10 seconds. We get dressed outside in a true emergency.

Shelter in place drills are every 6 months. I HIGHLY doubt we would ever need to actually shelter in place (rural area, not too exciting here) BUT we practice anyway. To the kids, it's just fun and they get a sucker.

12-25-2017 08:55 PM

racemom

Quote:

Originally Posted by LysesKids

That's what I was trying to point out... some people dress the kids before they pull off drills or they warn the kids. that isn't possible in a true emergency And it wasn't you I was referring too... sorry

Ok thanks. I was just wondering, because if I was missing something I wanted to re-examine our procedure. Better to practice the way it would be, then have them not know what to do in a true emergency situation.

12-25-2017 02:57 PM

flying_babyb

Can I ask why you cant have a emergency bag by each exit? The center I work at has a bag hanging by each door that contains two blankets, a roster for all the current kids in the daycare (all the classes), a couple heat packs (squeeze and they pop and heat), and a few rolls of crackers. This way if we have to run out in the snow, we're set! Though if the neighbor is home, she did offer us up her heated garage for an emergency!

12-25-2017 02:06 PM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by racemom

What part of our emergency evacuation plan do you see as not possible in a true emergency?

That's what I was trying to point out... some people dress the kids before they pull off drills or they warn the kids. that isn't possible in a true emergency And it wasn't you I was referring too... sorry

12-25-2017 02:01 PM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by hwichlaz

Are there flash floods where you live? Here if we’re flooding we get a lot of warning. We can easily evacuate while driving is still possible. I just need to watch the water level in my driveway in relation to the tires on my SUV.

In some areas I have lived in the past 10 years, yes Flash floods did happen & Where they happened in Fayetteville AR, it had never happened before (2011), however, just last year it happened again in the exact same area because of excessive rain in a short time ( like 30 minutes). Here my street turns into a river every time it's heavy rains & we get warnings for flash floods & major ponding on roads. I know in FL (2002-04) we had excessive water during some rains and you couldn't drive down any street without risking stalling & drowning & sometimes it happened quickly because of a foot or more of water in intersections. The question is, if you found out you couldn't get out, what would you do?

12-23-2017 04:01 PM

racemom

Quote:

Originally Posted by LysesKids

Try to do that in a true emergency... in the 2011 AR floods I had to evacuate 5 babies in the cold rain as water was coming into the house (3 feet in 30 minutes in my yard and it was coming in my front door - I lost my car in that as it got flooded)... the back of the home was on a hill and we literally were handing babies out the back window to my neighbors who took them into homes higher up the hill... 2 days later I had to evacuate again when they turned the gas back on and there was a leak & my sensors went off. All my kids were under 18 months at the time. The 2 daycare centers a block away had to wake napping children and evacuate when water came up under there floors too. The lake in my yard disappeared with an hour of the rain stopping

What part of our emergency evacuation plan do you see as not possible in a true emergency?

12-23-2017 10:03 AM

hwichlaz

Quote:

Originally Posted by LysesKids

I love it... but seriously, it's something that is happening more & more & providers aren't planning for that scenario; I know I had no clue that could have even happened & it was in a house I had just moved to. I bought flood insurance afterwards also even though my area was still not deemed flood zone (several hundred houses 5 minutes from me were). That's when I came up with the idea of having neighbors know I need help when I set off my car alarm - it saved my butt twice now in 6 years

Are there flash floods where you live? Here if we’re flooding we get a lot of warning. We can easily evacuate while driving is still possible. I just need to watch the water level in my driveway in relation to the tires on my SUV.

12-22-2017 02:07 PM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by hwichlaz

Maybe inflatable life rafts attached under the mattress support

I love it... but seriously, it's something that is happening more & more & providers aren't planning for that scenario; I know I had no clue that could have even happened & it was in a house I had just moved to. I bought flood insurance afterwards also even though my area was still not deemed flood zone (several hundred houses 5 minutes from me were). That's when I came up with the idea of having neighbors know I need help when I set off my car alarm - it saved my butt twice now in 6 years

12-22-2017 12:00 PM

hwichlaz

Quote:

Originally Posted by LysesKids

After the flood (which happened again this year in AR in the same areas), I'm surprised more places don't make plans to have an alternative policy in place if evacuation cribs can't be used for babies... can't push babes into the water to evacuate as I learned first hand. It's why I have it set up with neighbors that if my car alarm is set off, they come running

Maybe inflatable life rafts attached under the mattress support

12-22-2017 09:25 AM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by hwichlaz

Only licensed for 8. I have a grab n go bag with two large blankets, warm socks, water bottles, and a first aid kit.

I’m concerned that your center doesn’t have a clear path laid out for the cribs. You shouldn’t have to move furniture to escape a fire. That would be a fire code violation here.

After the flood (which happened again this year in AR in the same areas), I'm surprised more places don't make plans to have an alternative policy in place if evacuation cribs can't be used for babies... can't push babes into the water to evacuate as I learned first hand. It's why I have it set up with neighbors that if my car alarm is set off, they come running

12-22-2017 09:19 AM

hwichlaz

Only licensed for 8. I have a grab n go bag with two large blankets, warm socks, water bottles, and a first aid kit.

I’m concerned that your center doesn’t have a clear path laid out for the cribs. You shouldn’t have to move furniture to escape a fire. That would be a fire code violation here.

12-22-2017 07:28 AM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by racemom

We do fire drills without any advance warning or prepping. All of my kids(2 and 3 year olds) know when the alarm sounds exactly what to do. The director goes straight to baby room to help evacuate them, so it goes smoothly. We never take coats, but it is only a few minutes outside and are done on days that are not bone chilling.

Try to do that in a true emergency... in the 2011 AR floods I had to evacuate 5 babies in the cold rain as water was coming into the house (3 feet in 30 minutes in my yard and it was coming in my front door - I lost my car in that as it got flooded)... the back of the home was on a hill and we literally were handing babies out the back window to my neighbors who took them into homes higher up the hill... 2 days later I had to evacuate again when they turned the gas back on and there was a leak & my sensors went off. All my kids were under 18 months at the time. The 2 daycare centers a block away had to wake napping children and evacuate when water came up under there floors too. The lake in my yard disappeared with an hour of the rain stopping

12-21-2017 10:19 PM

racemom

We do fire drills without any advance warning or prepping. All of my kids(2 and 3 year olds) know when the alarm sounds exactly what to do. The director goes straight to baby room to help evacuate them, so it goes smoothly. We never take coats, but it is only a few minutes outside and are done on days that are not bone chilling.

12-21-2017 04:11 PM

ColorfulSunburst

I teach kids if they hear an alarm they MUST look at me and do everything what I ask them . It is fun for them. I ask them to hop/sit/stump/clap/make a circle/ make a line/march/ tiptoe/run/....
I know I can take them out of house in a couple of minutes. Assistant's responsibility is to grab kids cloth if possible and take it out.

12-21-2017 02:39 PM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissa Kristine

The main concern people have here is the kids being outside in the cold.

If it's a drill, they'll only be outside for a minute or so at most.

If it's an actual emergency situation, we'd evacuate to the General Store down the street where we can meet and wait for parents to pick up. Either way, the kids won't be out in the cold for hours on end, and even if they are, it's not going to kill them.

Smoke inhalation? Second and third degree burns?

Yeah, that could kill 'em.

I have 5 fold up emergency blankets in the grab & go; It will keep kids warm enough even outdoors for 30 minutes. My neighbors and I also have it set up that I set off my car alarm in an emergency (spare FOB in the kit)... they know & have met all my babies & will coming running in a heartbeat to help. You don't have time to put on coats and shoes in a true evacuation situation & many places don't get that... you do the drill as if it's a real emergency. That's the point of the drill

12-21-2017 11:01 AM

Ariana

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissa Kristine

The main concern people have here is the kids being outside in the cold.

If it's a drill, they'll only be outside for a minute or so at most.

If it's an actual emergency situation, we'd evacuate to the General Store down the street where we can meet and wait for parents to pick up. Either way, the kids won't be out in the cold for hours on end, and even if they are, it's not going to kill them.

Smoke inhalation? Second and third degree burns?

Yeah, that could kill 'em.

I live in Canada so I get it! We always evacuate the kids to a nearby building. In one centre it was an apartment building and in another it was a high school. We wouldn’t go there EVERY time there was a drill, because the main problem is getting everyone out in time, but we did practice going there a few times a year.

12-21-2017 10:54 AM

Lissa Kristine

The main concern people have here is the kids being outside in the cold.

If it's a drill, they'll only be outside for a minute or so at most.

If it's an actual emergency situation, we'd evacuate to the General Store down the street where we can meet and wait for parents to pick up. Either way, the kids won't be out in the cold for hours on end, and even if they are, it's not going to kill them.

Smoke inhalation? Second and third degree burns?

Yeah, that could kill 'em.

12-21-2017 09:33 AM

LysesKids

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat Herder

Emergency shelter in place grab bag. Safety suckers for the littles, starburst, blow pops and laffy taffy for the olders. Don't forget water bottles, sippy cups.

I do my fire drills at different times of day once a month. Fridays was 12 seconds. Typical time is 20 seconds. 6/1 ratio. Blankets, snacks and toys are waiting for us in our go to place.

Preparation is key.

Yes... AR started requiring grab & go kits in 2011, I continued it here in TN. Water, spare formula & snacks plus first aid kit & emergency cards. I had to evacuate 4-5 babies by myself twice within 3 days back in 2011 - you don't have time to grab coats, shoes etc, you just put the kids in the rollaway crib grab the bag & go...

People that have never been thru a real fire or gas scare have no clue that you literally have less than 60 seconds or you are gone. Been thru a fire in the middle of the night 1994 - I grabbed my own 4 children when the alarm sounded at 3 am & got out the door just as the house blew up from the gas line. Had another issue after the AR floods in 2011 (the time I evacuated with 5 daycare babes twice).

12-21-2017 06:24 AM

Cat Herder

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pestle

I understand the expectation, but kids that age scream as loud as they can just for the fun of making a sound. There's no way you can keep them quiet without drugs or, yes, physically sealing up their mouths.

Emergency shelter in place grab bag. Safety suckers for the littles, starburst, blow pops and laffy taffy for the olders. Don't forget water bottles, sippy cups.

I do my fire drills at different times of day once a month. Fridays was 12 seconds. Typical time is 20 seconds. 6/1 ratio. Blankets, snacks and toys are waiting for us in our go to place.

Preparation is key.

12-21-2017 05:04 AM

Pestle

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad_Pistachio

we had a lock-down drill a few weeks ago. so, we were to lock ourselves with toddlers (between 1 and 2 years old) in bathrooms and closets and encourage them to be quiet.
truth be told, in real lock-down, we'd just all be dead. or in prison for abuse, as we'd probably start taping kids' mouths. 5 out of 20 were screaming bloody murder, and doors are paper thin.

I understand the expectation, but kids that age scream as loud as they can just for the fun of making a sound. There's no way you can keep them quiet without drugs or, yes, physically sealing up their mouths.

12-21-2017 04:13 AM

DaveA

In the centers I worked it was about a 50/ 50 split unannounced vs scheduled. Now I have to do fire and severe weather drill monthly. I do them the same time every month (2nd Tuesday around 1000) because that is when the town test the tornado siren.

12-20-2017 07:28 PM

momofsix

I am in home We are required to do one per month, plus one tornado drill per month during tornado season. I tell the kids right before we do it, but we don't prepare ahead of time with coats/shoes/talking about it etc.
We talk about what to do randomly so they hopefully know when I push the smoke alarm.
Sometimes we play a "game" where I'll put pretend fire along one or two of the exit routes so they have to know which exit to go out of (basement, back or front door)
If your centers consultant came and asked for a fire drill demonstration, I'm sure you'd fail. I would think it's not even legal or safe to have tables blocking the exits that cribs need to roll through!

12-20-2017 06:54 PM

Jupadia

Here at my place for my home daycare don't need to do fire drills but do a practice with my 2+ kids. In summer we just head outside to yard in our socks. Winter I have them like up at stairs.

Back 15+ years ago when I worked at a center. We did them all the time. But we were lucky I worked at a downtown location the daycare was on the bottom floor. We were able to exit out into the underground pathways and subway so it made crib rolling easy and makers not a must.. Kids also wore indoor shoes so there very were not bare. We also had many unplanned ones do to construction while I worked there. We did make sure to have all pathways were the cribs had to roll free and clear.

12-20-2017 05:14 PM

Mad_Pistachio

we had a lock-down drill a few weeks ago. so, we were to lock ourselves with toddlers (between 1 and 2 years old) in bathrooms and closets and encourage them to be quiet.
truth be told, in real lock-down, we'd just all be dead. or in prison for abuse, as we'd probably start taping kids' mouths. 5 out of 20 were screaming bloody murder, and doors are paper thin.

12-20-2017 04:49 PM

storybookending

There is very little in our licensing about fire drills other than they should be preformed monthly and suggested time is under two minutes.

When I worked school age care we did them monthly and we included all children being silent for 10 seconds into our time. We would tell them the first few months of the school year that it was happening between two activities (September), sometime during the day (October, November) and the rest of the months were at random with no warning.

We don’t mess around with jackets as in a true emergency we wouldn’t be grabbing them. Just as you might not have time to move the tables in the event of an actual fire.

In fact one time our licensor specifically requested we do an unannounced drill in her presence. She told us that during drills we didn’t have to actually take them outside, just lined up and ready. We still took them outside most of the times but sometimes pre her advice we didn’t bother going all the way outside of it was the dead of winter.

12-20-2017 04:14 PM

happymom

I'm just going to chime in because I am interested in the topic (I am a parent of kids in a large daycare center) but I know that at our center the infants are taken out in cribs like you described.

I have no idea about the spontaneity of the drills though.

12-20-2017 04:03 PM

Lissa Kristine

We had our second fire drill today. Definitely NOT what I think a fire drill should look like.

We had 7 babies under 2 years old who were put into cribs for evacuation (the 3 youngest in one crib, the 4 oldest in another).

In the back room, we had 7 kids ranging from 2 to 4.5 years of age. The oldest 3 held hands with each other while a coworker and I each held hands with the 4 youngest (one child on each side).

In order to get the cribs out, we have to move the feeding table. We spent 20 minutes preparing the kids by putting on coats, moving tables around, and making the older kids sit and wait until it was "time."

I've always been a firm believer in NOT preparing kids with coats, etc. After all, if there is a real fire, we aren't going to have time to gather jackets for 14 kids (and with the layout of the school, there's a good chance we aren't even going to be able to just grab jackets to distribute to children outside. If anything, we may be able to scoop up some blankets from the crib area when grabbing the cribs to put babies in, but that's about as much as we can be sure of. The truth is, if there is an actual fire, many children will be going outside in their sock-feet.)

Older kids can be given a warning "Some time today, we are going to have a fire drill," but I wouldn't give them any idea as to WHEN it's going to happen (it would just be used as an opportunity to review fire drill rules). I think ALL of the older children need to learn to hold hands and/or walk in a line. Most of the time, it will be just the ONE teacher back there with all of the 2-4 year old children. (My boss would actually have each child's hand held during the fire drill since we do cross a little side-street/ driveway which does have traffic from the elementary school next door).

Of course, my boss thought our 90 second evacuation time was great, but I'm not so sure. After all, we had kids in the cribs ready to be wheeled outside before the alarm was even pulled. I'd love to see a random/surprise drill where everybody is doing normal activities.

How are fire drills done for you? Am I crazy for thinking that they shouldn't be so staged?